Rotoroa Island

 

When I was a child the rehabilitation of drunks in New Zealand was run by the Salvation Army. The men were sent to Rotoroa Island & kept busy. Farm work mostly - milking cows, planting crops, making useful saleable products, learning skills & making art work. I still remember the old fellow who played piano brilliantly. I used to watch him for hours.  He inspired me to become a musician. The philosophy of the day was 'work will set you free,' or something like that. Yoga Ashrams & Communes work on the same principle.

As my parents were officers & we were designated OK's, officer's kids  we had holidays for several years in a row on Rotoroa Island in the Hauraki Gulf. We stayed in staff cottages, cooked on a wood stove, used the big drop dunny, slept on straw beds & lit candles at night. The owner of the Dominion Breweries had thoughtful donated 'the island' as a magnanimous gesture to keep drunks off the streets. The courts routinely sent men there for rehab.

On a trip home a few years ago I rang my younger sister & asked, "do you think we can go to 'the island?' When we arrived in Auckland she said, "we're leaving tomorrow. She took her grand daughter & my son came with us. So what did we find? No farming being done. No formal activities. Not even sporting events. Inmates just wandered around, some listening to CD's. The population was much younger & many were recovering from drug addiction.

Who was running the place? Still the Salvation Army but all the staff were qualified therapists. They sat in offices & conducted sessions with the patients. I spoke to an old gent on the wharf who could remember the old days. He said it used to be a cheerful place he said & people left with new skills & most didn't return. When I asked him about what was going on now he said, "it's all regulated by the government now & about having a piece of paper saying you're qualified & writing reports & the results are no better. The same people keep coming back."